No Matter How Badly You Mess Up, God Offers Mercy
By Rick Warren
“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:4-5 (NLT)
No matter what you’re going through, you can live with hope. That’s the consistent good news of the Bible.
In 1 Peter 1, you can find five reasons to live with hope. In yesterday’s Daily Hope, we looked at the first reason: God chose you before you chose him.
Today, we’ll look at the second reason: God always treats you with grace and mercy.
Peter wrote to those who were already believers, “All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again” (1 Peter 1:3 TLB).
Peter didn't just say that God is merciful. Peter praised God for his “boundless mercy.”
The more you understand God’s mercy and grace, the more you—like Peter—will be amazed by it. It’s completely undeserved. It’s totally unmerited. It’s not something that you could earn or work for. It’s just a free gift.
God’s mercy is based on his love for you. And you can’t make God love you any more than he loves you right now. You also can’t make him love you any less. That means his mercy toward you will never change.
God’s Word, the Bible, says, “When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5 NLT).
This is extremely important to understand. When you make mistakes as a believer, God doesn’t get mad at you. God doesn’t want to get even with you. God doesn’t start planning to mess up your life.
Here’s what God does: He always acts in mercy toward you. Why? Because you’re covered in the blood of Jesus Christ when you have accepted him as Savior.
Because of Jesus, God responds in mercy every time you mess up. And that can give you hope.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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